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Til It Happens To You
"Til It Happens to You" is a song produced and performed by American singer Lady Gaga, co-written by her and Diane Warren for the 2015 documentary film, The Hunting Ground, which deals with campus rape in the United States. The song had leaked onto the internet through an unofficial recording at the film's premiere in 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It was later released by Interscope Records to digital retailers on September 18, 2015. The director and producer of the film had looked for someone influential to write a song for it, and music supervisor Bonnie Greenberg contacted Warren who was interested. After writing the song, Warren asked Gaga to record "Til It Happens to You". Producer Nile Rodgers accompanied them during the recording, providing his suggestions. A universal song about any kind of loss in life, "Til It Happens to You" was placed during two sequences in the film, highlighting the pain of sexual assault. The song consists of an orchestral production with strings, and an emotional vocal delivery from Gaga. Lyrically it asks listeners to stand in a victim's position and try to understand the turmoil they go through. "Til It Happens to You" was later included as part of a public service announcement video directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The video depicts various instances of violence against women and sexual assaults. It ends with a cautionary note about the effects of such distress, and individuals finding solace with their close friends and relatives. Both the song and the video received positive critical response. Reviewers complimented Gaga's vocal delivery, the sympathetic tone of the lyrics as they related to the subject, as well as the realistic depictions of the sexual assaults in the clip, and Hardwicke's direction. A portion of the proceeds from retail sales was donated to organizations supporting victims of sexual assault. Commercially, the song reached the top thirty in Finland, Greece, and Spain, and it peaked at number 95 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in March 2016. "Til It Happens to You" was nominated for a Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, and for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards, and also received a nomination at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics, however, just Warren was credited because of their cue sheet accreditation requirement. With its nomination, "Til It Happens to You" became the first song ever to be nominated at the Grammys, Oscars and Emmys in the same year. Background A universal song about any kind of loss in life, the track was placed during two sequences in the film, highlighting pain of sexual assault. The song consists of an orchestral production with strings, and an emotional vocal delivery from Gaga. Lyrically it asks the listeners to stand in a victim's position and try to understand the turmoil she goes through. "Til It Happens to You" was later included as part of a public service announcement video, directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The video depicts various instances of violence against women and sexual assaults. It ends with a cautionary note about the effects of such distress, and the women finding solace with their close friends and relatives. Both the song and the video received positive critical response. Reviewers complimented Gaga's vocal delivery, the sympathy of the lyrics with the subject matter, as well as the realistic depictions of the sexual assaults in the clip and Hardwicke's direction. A part of the retail sales would be donated to organizations supporting victims of sexual assault. Commercially, the song has reached the top-thirty in Finland, Greece, and Spain as well as the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles and Pop Digital songs in the United States. Category:Lady GaGa songs Category:2015 songs Category:2015 singles